My story into soft tissue therapy and yoga began a very long time ago! (That’s shorthand for grab a cup of tea and packet of biscuits)
Already a keen dancer, I remember doing yoga with my Dad on a Sunday morning at the tender age of 5! That morning planted the seed of interest that has grown into my Yoga practice today! But that was just part of the story.
I’m a passionate amateur sportswoman, again part of the heritage of my family, and I’ve enjoyed an eclectic mix of activities over the years from classical ballet (a 5 year scholarship with the Royal Academy of Ballet), endurance running, rugby (union with a dabble into league), both track and endurance motocross (2 national championships), adventure racing, mountain biking and my current passion, road cycling (mostly endurance). Yoga and meditation have formed the backbone of all of these activities and have helped to balance me physically and mentally, playing a key role in optimising my body for the sports and activities I have been/am involved with.
The personal experience of the benefits and positive impact that yoga has had on my life is what lead me to my first yoga teacher training course with Ruth White, a 500 hour Karuna programme taking nearly 3 years. It was an amazing experience that deepened my own practice and started my journey into sharing what I’ve learnt about movement and the way our mind and bodies work with others.
There was still a hunger there though, to understand how to share what yoga offers the active body to those not interested in the way yoga is delivered here in the West. Yoga is, fundamentally, simply the science of exploring the body and mind. How we move and function! So I went on to study with the Institute of Yoga Sports Science to qualify as a Yoga Sports Coach. This provided me with a much more in depth understanding of the physiological and anatomical benefits of yoga.
My passion for understanding how to optimise our performance (daily life or sport) and therefore our experience of life lead me to study Sports and Remedial Massage/Soft Tissue Therapy with the OSSM (Oxford School of Sports Massage). I’m not sure I expected to enjoy helping people with the hands on practice so much, but I do and I’ve found the balance of couch and mat work bring immense and often extremely rapid improvements to individuals.